They struggled to reach the exam hall
  Karthik Madhavan 
    
 Differently abled candidates find it difficult to climb up the staircase
   
 On July 30, hundreds of candidates went to a private engineering  college, off Sathyamangalam Road, to appear for the Tamil Nadu Public  Service Commission's examination for the ‘Combined Subordinate  Services'. 
 
 Upon reaching the engineering college and coming to know about their  examination halls, candidates Surya Nagappan, Syed Ibrahim, Kalanidhi  and Sakthivel encountered a doubt. Their doubt was not whether they  would clear the examination but whether they would be able to reach the  venue at all. 
 
 Two of the four differently abled persons had their examination halls on  the third floor, the third had it on the second floor and the fourth on  the first floor. 
 
 They found it so difficult that they reconsidered appearing for the examination, says Mr. Nagappan. 
 
 “Climbing three floors is no joke. Syed Ibrahim and I had to inch our  way to the third floor, climbing half-a-step at a time on steps we found  slippery on account of the smooth finish.” 
 
 No relief 
 
 Mr. Nagappan complains that neither the college authorities nor the  district administration officials were there to provide him relief. “I  had clearly mentioned my differently abled status on the application  form but it was of no use.” 
 
 This was the worst part of the story. What was worse was that the  examination centre was so far away from the main road that there was no  other transportation facility. 
 
 Mr. Ibrahim wants to know why the district administration and the TNPSC  had chosen a place that was so far away from the city centre. “It was  around 15 km,” he points out. Soon after the examination, Mr. Nagappan  says, he contacted the district administration as well as the TNPSC for a  clarification but each blamed the other. 
 
 “The district administration officials it was the TNPSC's responsibility  to inform them that differently abled were among the candidates  appearing for the examination so as to enable them to fix a better a  centre. The TNPSC officials said they had no role other than approving  the centre the district administration identified,” Mr. Nagappan says. 
 
 His and the other differently abled persons' worry is that if they have  to face the same fate when they appear for a similar government,  scheduled on August 7. 
 
 The special recruitment for persons with disability for those with class  X qualification is just a few days away. They do not know what to do,  they lament. 
 
 District Collector M. Karunakaran says if the lack of facilities for the  previous examination has been brought to his notice, he would have  taken efforts to mitigate their trouble. 
 
 He promises to provide a friendly centre for the candidates for the ensuing examination.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/article2321262.